


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Or Maybe Not)

by missameliep



Category: Perfect Match (Visual Novel)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Holidays, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28413171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missameliep/pseuds/missameliep
Summary: The Parks’ cousins love the holiday season and everything about it, a sentiment Damien Nazario does not share. At all. Could four years being dragged into their very merry traditions be enough to change this?
Relationships: Damien Nazario/Main Character (Perfect Match)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Or Maybe Not)

**Author's Note:**

> * The first three scenes happen before the events from Perfect Match – Book 1, and the last one happens after the end of Book 2.  
> * All characters belong to Pixelberry.  
> * English is not my first language.  
> * I want to thank @princess-geek for being my beta 😊
> 
> Hey @mrs-raleighcarrera (@freckles-spangledvampire) ! I wrote this fic specially for you 🎁 for the Choices Family Potluck 2020, hosted by the lovely @homeformyheart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Happy holiday!

__

_**December, 2015** _

The Park cousins are a peculiar pair year-round.

A peculiar, cheerful and lively pair, each in their own way, unlike the detective.

At this point, it did not surprise Damien at all that as soon as the wind started to blow a little colder and the temperatures lowered the slightest, the two became even more joyful and enthusiastic. The absence of the spicy scent of cinnamon or the sound of Christmas’ carols hanging in the New York city air did not stop Nadia and Kai to fill their schedules with an assortment of seasonal activities that Damien could barely keep up with – or had any desire in taking part of, if he were perfectly honest about it.

From silly traditions to the trashiest holiday movies ever made by mankind, they love everything about it. With exceptional commitment and passion. A sentiment Damien certainly does not share.

“Do you need help in the kitchen?” Damien offers, hoping to persuade Nadia to stop baking – a hobby she took on after the last breakup and to which she absolutely lacks the aptitude for – and order some pizza.

“Bored?” Kai teases and throws him a smirk. Certainly aware of his intention, she adds, “I’m helping Nadia with the frosting. Twenty minutes tops and the cupcakes will be ready.”

“But will they be eatable?”

Kai dashes forward, laying a hand on his arm and shushing him. “Probably not.”

“We have to tell her, Kai.”

“We will.”

“When?”

“Just look how happy she is now,” she says softly, and their gazes found the other Park singing a carol and dancing while mixing something on a large bowl. “And I ordered pizza from Joe’s, so…”

“Thank God!” he sighed, and Kai giggled.

A few steps on her way back to the kitchen, and she turned around facing him. “Hey! If you’re up to a challenge, you could try to disentangle those.” She pointed at strings of fairy-lights piled over the coffee table. “Then I could hang it over the couch. It would be more…” she pauses, and contemplates his face before picking a word, “…cozy.”

He nods and sits on the couch, taking the mess of wires carefully to not let his finger be jabbed by one of the starshaped molds. 

_If only fixing real life messes were this simple…_

Christmas has never been Damien’s favorite time of the year. Memories of the house crowded with relatives. Too hot and too noisy. The sharpness of his ten-year-old’s brown eyes could not ignore the fake smiles and the old grudges that spilled after the second bottle of cheap wine was emptied at dinner. He misses none of that, and immediately chases those thoughts away, focusing again on the string of wire and cheap plastic in his hands, certainly produced by underpaid workers in unsafe conditions to light dead trees. What a bizarre concept!

Another fit of laughter erupts from the kitchen, and he peeks at them, their backs turned to him and oblivious to the attention. Nadia places the tray over the table and the aroma of the cupcakes spread around the small apartment, competing with the scent of the pine tree and sandalwood incense burning in the corner. Somehow, the scene reminds him of another kitchen. His water mouths at the memory of the house invaded by the smell of the _pernil asado_ his Abuelita would be cooking, and his heart warms as the scene plays in his mind like a movie and he remembers the same melody softly hummed while stirring a pot. One of the few good memories from those celebrations.

A bang and a clatter from a falling spatula and he’s shaken from his musings.

“We’re alright, D!” Nadia yells from the kitchen without looking away from the task at hand, and he chuckles.

“Good to know the evil cupcakes will not prevail against you,” he says, having moved to lean against the doorframe.

“I don’t think they’ll try anything funny with you here,” Kai winks at him over her shoulder.

“They better not.” He smirks and his eyes invariably focus on Kai. Her long curly hair manhandled into a messy bun exposes her long neck and part of her right shoulder and back, and it takes him a moment and all his willpower to not close that gap. When Nadia turns around with a wide smile, he immediately averts his unfriendly eyes, and clears his throat.

If they were anybody else, Damien would probably avoid them entirely until the festivities ceased – or perhaps forever.

However, avoidance was just the opposite of what he did.

Nadia and Kai are good people. From the first meeting, about ten months ago, when he was hired to deal with Nadia’s stalker, he acknowledged it and they clicked right away. There was an undeniable connection, and the professional relationship turned increasingly personal over the weeks anytime he went out for coffee with Nadia to update her on the case, with every phone call and the frequent texts from Kai, progressively diverting from the main subject, something he never minded, and finally, during the celebratory drinks, the desire to maintain those ties despite the end of the job was strong and relief washed over him when Nadia addressed it, speaking the words he never would. _“You’re stuck with us, detective!”_ she said then, and Damien had to admit – at least to himself – that he had grown fond of Nadia and Kai. Especially Kai.

However, it was not Kai’s obvious good looks – which did not go unnoticed upon meeting her and might have made his heart race a bit faster when she flashed one of her wide, bright and honest smiles – that has drawn him to her. It was something else entirely that captivated him: she saw him and despite that she wanted to remain close – something that perplexed him. Nevertheless, she kept him company even when he was reluctant to have anyone around, afraid the darkness within could taint whoever got too close. Her presence kept him sane. Her presence prevented him from revisiting too many dark memories.

Suddenly, Damien was not drinking alone anymore. Sometimes the three of them would go out. But so many other times, it was just he and Kai. Those were the really special nights, even if all they did was hung out at her apartment, watching one of the shows she would be obsessing about at the moment, drinking beer and eating pizza. It was enough. More than enough, actually. The conversation always flows effortlessly, a banter and a kind of intimacy he has no memory of experiencing – even if he says so little about himself, insisting on the image of the classic and mysterious PI, which amuses her. With Kai nothing ever felt forced or fake. She never pushes him, and he feels oddly safe around her. They had fun despite her terrible taste in movies and her odd sense of humor. Who would thought she would make Damien laugh with puns that could embarrass a fifth grader? Probably not even Kai. The first time her banter freed a loud laugh from him, she stared at him in awe and seemed somewhat proud of her achievement.

Therefore, it was not that extraordinary that despite his initial protests, he let himself be dragged into their season’s frenzy. Their insistence on his participation increased his suspicion there was more to it than just driving them around, helping with shopping or hanging fairy-lights.

“My masterpieces!” Nadia announces in a sing-song voice and proudly walks past him with a tray filled with cupcakes decorated with an obnoxious green frosting in the shape of something remotely like trees.

Sharing an amused look with Kai, he bites back a laugh and follows them to the living room.

“Kai, the lights, please,” Nadia asks, and the room darkens for an instant before the fairy-lights sparkle to life. A soft amber glow lightens their faces and Nadia’s beam. “This is so magical!” she sighs staring at the finished job.

Damien scoffs, and Kai nudges his side. Their eyes meet and it feels she can read his mind.

“It’s just plastic and light…” he mutters, and she playfully hits his arm, and he holds her hand there for a second too long.

Her voice is too soft and too close to his ear, when she speaks again, “Don’t ruin the moment, Damien.”

And he does not dare say another word.

The trio sits around the living room. For the next hours, they laugh, eat and watch a selection of films, that unsurprisingly includes _How the Grinch stole Christmas_.

Halfway through the second movie and after wolfing down one large pizza and half of the second one, the trio is quiet. The only sounds in the room come from the TV. In the small couch, Kai’s socked feet rest on Damien’s lap, and the man has a cheek propped in his palm, almost dozing off.

From the large armchair, Nadia stares at him for a long while, and asks, “D, are you coming to our party?”

He blinks the surprise and the sleep away. The question would come up eventually, he knew it. Nadia’s pre-Christmas party is one of the main subjects of conversation these days and there is so much he can do to deflect from replying it.

“I’ll be out of town,” he lies through his teeth.

“Too bad,” Nadia says without giving a second thought to his reply and her eyes return to the television, but he noticed Kai’s eyes lingering on his face, inspecting his expression. He averts his gaze, focusing on the movie too, and she does not say a word.

Damien wonders if she sees behind his lies. Or just the lies.

Five days before Christmas and very few places were holiday-free. The café the Parks have chosen for brunch was definitely not one of the happy exceptions. A large evil looking Santa Claus statue greeted them at the entrance and each table has been decorated with a small fake tree with garish ornaments and cheap plastic lights. An instrumental version of “Tis the season” begins playing for the third time in a row, and Damien sighed into his mug.

Nadia glances at him. “Are you insisting on being Mr. Grumpy Pants?”

“Sorry, I forgot my fake enthusiasm on my other coat…”

Nadia scoffs, and he doesn’t bother hiding his smirk.

“I think you need another injection of the season cheers.”

Damien raises his eyebrows at her, and suddenly acting as if she was a character in one of the tacky movies they love, Nadia started singing _“All I want for Christmas is you”_. Hand choreography included. Kai immediately joined her. The most mischievous smile curling her red lips.

Many eyes were drawn to their improvised performance and some people smiled. For a moment Damien was afraid other patrons would join them to a dance routine, especially the two middle-aged women sitting on the table beside theirs, who were already much too interested on their conversations anyways. His shoulders slumped while he considered walking away.

“Oh, God.” Closing his eyes, he groaned into his mug of black coffee. “Please, stop. Otherwise, I’m leaving before all this joy kills me.”

“A perfect impersonation of the Grinch, D,” Nadia teases, “They should’ve casted you instead of Jim Carrey.”

Damien rolls his eyes. “You’re missing a career on comedy…” he replies, his words dripping with sarcasm. “Are you going to eat that?” he asked, pointing at the half-eaten bagel in Kai’s plate.

“Can I have the blueberry muffin?”

Nodding, he passed the muffin to her, and she pushed the plate in his direction.

“Why you hate Christmas?”

“How long you’ve got?”

“Hating Christmas is not a cool personal trait, you know. Or a good vibe for you,” Kai said softly with a smile, a heavy trace of humor, but also a glint of something else he could not quite put his finger on…

“Then it’s good I’m not trying to be cool,” he replies and takes a bite of the bagel.

“So you hate everything about it?”

“Not everything. I always liked the day off.”

“That does not count, D!”

“There’s also the morons buying jewelry to their mistresses with their credit cards… They made my life a lot easier. Money just falls on my lap...”

“See,” Nadia points out, “you can be optimistic about something! I bet you like the gift-giving part too. Everybody likes presents!”

“Sure! What’s not to enjoy in being forced to buy presents for people you don’t even care about? Going to crowded and overly priced stores? What can be better than that?”

The two shared a knowing look and smirked, and his eyebrows frowned at the oddness of their attitude, a silent question that prompted Nadia to take a box with a large red bow from her bag and push in his direction.

“Speaking of which, we got you a present, D!”

The man stares wide-eyed at them, then his gaze flicks at the box. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah. We were not expecting you to…”

“Go ahead,” Nadia says, voice raising an octave with the excitement, “Open it!”

Damien unwraps it carefully and peeks inside.

“Oh.” His mouth replicates the shape of the letter O at the sight of what is possibly the ugliest sweater ever made. Taking the item out of the box, he inspects it for an instant, holding it as if it were infected by the plague. _What the hell is this?_ Pursing his lips at the bright shades of red and green and the dancing reindeers’ pattern, he looks back at the two and they break into a fit of giggles, and realization dawns on him.

“Put it on, D!” Nadia suggests almost breathless and he rolls his eyes. “I already have the perfect caption for the photo!” Her phone is snapped out of her bag, and she holds it in front of him. Both women started chanting for him to put the sweater on, bringing back the attention to their table.

Damien’s eyes flicked from the two and he glared at the two middle-aged women sitting on the next table before they could clap their hands and join the chanting. Doing the sensible thing, the pair lowered her hands and focused on their own table.

“I’m not wearing this,” he murmurs and places it back on the box. “Ever.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he echoes Kai’s question, and can’t contain the chortle. “Because that is a ho ho horrible sweater.”

“Is that a pun, detective? Am I rubbing off on you?”

He shakes his head slowly. “It seems like it. You are ruining my charming personality.”

Kai laughed. “You’re one of us now. Get used to it!”

The words drew his gaze to her. Her chin propped in one hand, a wide smile rounding her cheeks and making her eyes glisten.

“One of you?”

“Yes! And on Christmas we wear ugly sweaters.”

“The ugliest!” Nadia adds beaming.

“Then I want out,” he retorted and sipped his coffee, and another fit of giggles was released by the two.

Despite the sarcastic attitude, he smiles against the rim of the mug and looks back at Kai, who offers an even wider smile.

_Perhaps this might not be the most terrible time of the year after all…_

**December, 2017**

The trees tremble when a frosty draught blows again. Damien’s teeth clatter with the chill, and plumes of white clouds dance in front of his face before fading away whenever he exhales.

If this invitation had come from any other person, he would never have left the apartment, appreciating how the old radiator still does its job effectively. Perhaps he would even indulge himself with a dose of rum from the bottle he keeps for special occasions – that would definitely keep him warm –, and finally catch up with _It Lives in the woods_ , before Kai blurts out too many spoilers of the series.

However, Kai texted him, and as usual, he cannot decline one of her invitations. Not that he ever feels like doing it, for that matter. Because of her, he is standing by the side of the ice rink, his brain trying to convince his body it is not freezing. Flagrantly failing the task, he fights the cold with the motion of his body, his feet stomp on the ice-cold pavement a few times, and he sips the steaming black coffee, which burns his throat on the way down. Damien grimaces, but thanks the heat anyway.

Leaning forward on the railing, his gaze follows the two cousins gliding alongside many skaters, mostly tourists. Nadia smoothly crosses the ice until she slows to a stop, and returns to offer an arm to Kai, who struggled to keep her balance after almost crashing into a stranger. The two exchange a few words, and Kai’s head tips back, curls bouncing with the movement, and a loud and unrestrained laugh escapes her lips. The joyful and melodious sound reaches his ears, and Damien smiles. He loves the sound of it, but mostly he loves to see her this happy.

Like a compass pointing at the north, Kai finds his face among the crowd of spectators and looks directly at him. Maybe the detective’s gaze weighted on her, maybe his eyes summoned her attention. Whichever it was, the sight of him instantly lifted the corners of her lips, and suddenly his heart was beating too hard against its cage, as if eager to fly away and reach for hers.

Nadia waves at him and shouts, “Come on, D!”

Ignoring the invitation, he simply raised the cup to his lips.

Nadia pushes Kai and she forces her way to him, almost walking over the ice. On her way, even without words, their gazes communicated a lot, and he shakes his head in mocking disapproval, to which she replies shrugging the shoulders. The obvious lack of grace on the ice is not a secret nor an obstacle to her enjoyment. With difficulty she reaches the open spot where he is standing closer to the rink, waiting for her.

“How can you still suck, if you do it every year?” he mutters the question, but there is not a real edge to his words.

“I didn’t realize you came to judge the performances.”

“I actually just wanted to see the laws of Physics in action. Gravity, especially.”

“First, that’s mean, Damien. And second, I do not have to be Michelle Kwan to enjoy myself,” she replies, and he chuckles behind his cup.

“You’re joining us?” Kai’s voice is cheerful and almost doesn’t sound like a question. Her lips curl with a warm smile, the kind that never fails to make his heart race a bit faster.

“Broken limbs don’t appeal to me.”

“But you’ll miss all the fun!”

Chuckling, he looks away. “We definitely have different definitions of the word fun, Kai.”

His stare fixes on a couple skating while holding hands, and she looks at them too. Her eyes return to his face, and to the coffee he is drinking. “Skating is better than coffee to keep you warm.”

“The coffee is doing a fine job.”

She sighs at him, and he smirks.

“See you later, I guess,” she says, and turns away to resume skating. As soon as she does, she slips and loses her balance again. Damien throws the cup to the floor and dashes forward; arms outstretched in her direction.

Falling against his chest, she lets out a surprised gasp and looks at him over her shoulder.

Encircled by his arms, she glances up to meet his stare. Long lashes frame her bright eyes that look direct at his, and her hand grab his arm. 

“So gentlemanly, detective.” Kai turns a little more to face him, the blades giving a boost on her height, and winks. “Thanks.”

The combination of the unpredicted proximity, Kai’s eyes sparkling even more than the fresh snow that covered the world around them, and the grin that made her look too radiant, stirred something inside him. It takes mere seconds to a flow of heat reach his ears and face. Confusion and delight fogging his senses, while he was losing himself in her hypnotizing eyes.

Before getting too caught up at the moment, Damien hastily tries to move away from her, taking a step back; but this time, he is the one who slips on the ice, and pulls her down. Kai’s body toppled over his, and he hit the ice with a thump and a moan.

“Wow! That was graceful!”

“Sorry,” he mutters.

“Thanks for breaking my fall again,” she says, still on top of him, not hinting that she would move away or try to get up, voice filled with amusement.

“I don’t think I’ve got much of a choice,” he replies, and his chuckles join hers.

The whole situation is so embarrassing, but Kai reacts exactly as she did in similar occasions: releasing a torrent of laughs. She buries her face in his chest, chortling against his coat, and Damien gives in too. First, just a low chuckle rumbling on his chest, but then, he is laughing with her.

It always impresses Damien how she can laugh at the ridiculousness of any situation, and even at herself. Actually, the first time she did it in front of him, after falling face first in that frozen bench so long ago, made it clear what he felt for her.

Probably a whole minute pass, before her head tilts up. Breathless, Kai is oblivious to the other skaters and the few spectators who asked if they were all right, but he is not. Damien motioned that they were alright and needed a moment to recompose themselves.

Brushing a tear from her eye with a gloved hand, Kai looks at Damien, realising he is no longer laughing with her. Her eyes lock with his, and she rolls her lips. And again, conflict begins to cloud his judgement. The desire to just cross that line, to take the risk, battling the urge to move away from her and flee this nonsense, preserving the most meaningful relationship he has. In the end, reason wins the battle against his instincts, and he tries to sit up, putting an end to whatever that was. Without thinking this through, however, he realises too late that the motion only adds to the awkwardness of the situation. When he manages to sit, she is much closer, face only inches from his. Her eyes widen and lips part with the surprise and their warm breaths turn into white plumes, clouding the sight of each other.

There is only silence between them, and her expression turns serious and unreadable. Damien wonders if she’ll push him away, but she doesn’t. Taking a sharp breath, he knows he should say something, but there are no words left in his brain. The image of Kai on top of him and so close is too distracting. Though he would never dare to admit it out loud, this image has been living on his mind for a long while; however, the Central Park’s ice rink and the crowd around were never a part of his fantasies.

Probably another whole minute has passed when a familiar voice breaks the haziness.

“What happened?” Nadia asks a few feet away from them, “Do you need help?”

“We –” Kai stops herself when her voice comes out too hoarse and clears her throat. “We’re fine,” she tells her cousin, and then shifts back to look at him. The moment is gone, her expression is the same friendly one. “We should get up. You’re probably cold down there.”

Though he never felt the cold that dampened his trousers, he nods, and they help each other up.

After reassuring Nadia they are both fine, Damien turns to Kai, “I assume we’re leaving now before you get hurt?”

“Absolutely not,” she says indicating the large clock across the rink. “We still have twenty minutes.”

“I fulfilled my quota of rescues today.”

“Hey, but you were the one who knocked me down…” she teased, and he chuckled.

“That was part of my plan to make the rink safer.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Are you suggesting I’m a menace?”

“Oh, honey, I love you, but you almost toppled over that kid,” Nadia says pointing at a little boy skating with an older girl, and Kai’s jaw falls and she protests.

“See, Nadia agrees with me,” Damien chuckles, and buries his hands on his coat pockets. “Since frostbite is not on my plans, I’m leaving now. You two, carry on.”

Walking away, he cast a last glance over his shoulder and Kai is watching him go.

**December, 2018**

At Nadia and Steve’s new apartment, like waves, the chatter would rise and fall in the ample and festively-lit living room. Streams of laughter erupting around the space every few minutes, louder than the Christmas’ songs playing, however no one seemed to mind that. On the contrary. The mix of aromas was overwhelming – eggnog, cinnamon and pine filled the air –, and quickly, the crowded space became too warm, too noisy and too merry for Damien’s taste. This was exactly the kind of occasion he would avoid at all costs and would not enjoy at all.

This was not the case this evening. Not entirely at least.

From his improvised seat at the fire escape, he peeks inside the room filled with music, chatter and joy, where old faces joined new ones.

Happiness is all around and etched on every face. Including his. A genuine smile had raised the corners of his lips long ago.

The obvious joy is shared by every former member of the group who fought Eros.

Perhaps the most enthusiastic are Hayden and Steven, both celebrating Christmas for the first time, both absolutely delighted in taking part on every single one of the Parks’ traditions. These past weeks, they were assigned to decoration duties and went ice skating at the Central Park’s ice rink. Tonight, their excitement seems even greater.

In the centre of the room, once again, Nadia has got Steve under the mistletoe. The couple looks ridiculous with the matching Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus’ sweaters, and despite the chaste kiss, the blonde’s cheeks flushed into a deep shade of red. Nadia giggled and wrapped an arm around his waist. The man kissed the top of her head. They look ridiculously happy and in love.

Gulping down the remaining of the beer in the bottle, his gaze scans the rest of the room, until they lay on the group in the corner: Kai, Hayden and Sloane.

Hayden beams, a distinct glint on his dark eyes visible even in the distance, while talking to Kai. The two also sport sweaters as ugly as the other partygoers, if not more hideous. They spent hours online searching for the perfect ones and were proud of their choices: hers, a green and white stripped one with a large sock in a bright shade of red that hides a wine pocket – Damien frowned upon the concept, and it only gave her even more reasons to buy it –, and his, the knit in a bright hue of green with two robots doing a high-five. Supposedly, this is an extremely funny inside joke, which Kai and Hayden tried to explain to Damien, and either he did not understand it, or the joke is not as funny as they think.

Suddenly, Kai bows her head, leaning against the other’s shoulder, laughter erupting from her mouth, and Hayden wipes the tears from his eyes. Khaan joins the group and whispers something into Sloane’s ears, drawing a bashful smile from her, when he hands her a cup of eggnog. The two also wearing colourful sweaters matching the theme of the party.

Alana, who surprisingly came tonight, and unsurprisingly is wearing one of her impeccable gowns instead of a sweater and turned more than a few heads on her way in, walks straight to the group and addresses Kai. The conversation resumes even livelier.

Either sensing his attention or just missing his presence, Kai’s eyes scanned the room for a while, before spotting his silhouette outside. Letting out a breath, she grins at him, like she always does, and he smiles back, like he always does. Kai is the receiver of most of his smiles.

Disappearing for a few minutes, Kai reappears with her coat wrapped tight around her body and marches to the window. She takes off the high heels and climbs to join him outside.

“Aww, is Damien _Elvis_ Nazario brooding in the fire escape?”

The sound of his middle name and the way she says it draw a groan from him, and he tells her to stop, but there is not real annoyance in his voice.

Her legs press against his when she sits beside him.

“I thought your days of being the Grinch were over.”

“I just needed a breather,” he says, “and it’s nice seeing everyone enjoying themselves.”

“Are you _not_ being sarcastic?”

“I am serious.”

“Wow!”

He tilts his head to look at her, eyebrows raised at her reaction. “What?”

“You better watch it,” she replies, fingers trailing the visible part of the collar of his sweater – the awful one she and Nadia gifted him three years ago, “your soft side is showing.”

“How dare you insinuate that? I don’t have a soft side.”

“You do, detective!” she says softly looking him in the eye. “And that is one of the reasons I love you.”

He chuckles and Kai’s gaze shuffles to the window.

“They do look happy. All of them.”

“And they deserve to be.”

“What about you?” she asks, her wholly attention back on him, “Are you happy?”

“What do you think?” he returns the question, one arm snaking around her waist and pulling her closer.

“Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve!” she says, taking something from her pocket and raising above their heads. His eyes follow the motion to find a twig of mistletoe. “You know what you have to do...”

Damien smirks. “I didn’t realise you were that eager to get me under the mistletoe, Miss Park.”

Lowering the twig, she says with a mock pout, “If you don’t want to kiss me –”

“I never said that!” he cuts her off, holding her wrist and raising her hand again.

Smiling, her eyes flick from the mistletoe hanging above them to his eyes and then to his lips. Damien closes the gap slowly, building the anticipation, though they’ve kissed uncountable times these past months, and her lips part in response. Shutting his eyes, he gently presses his lips to hers.

When they pulled away, foreheads and noses still touching, Damien knew how perfect this moment was and that there was nothing else he could ask for.

“I love you, Kai Park.”

“I love you too, Damien,” she breathes the words, and places her free hand on his chest, heart beating frantically underneath her palm. “You totally love Christmas now, don’t you?”

“I would not go that far,” he huffs and pulls her to another kiss much less softer and gentler than the first, and the mistletoe now lies forgotten next to their feet.


End file.
